Lacerations can be "pattern laceration"s and may show a mirror image of the shape or partial shape of the instrument that inflicted the trauma.

The word "laceration" is commonly misused as a term for any break in the skin. It is commonly abbreviated to lac, as in "the patient had multiple lacs."

Cuts, incisions, burns and abrasions are not lacerations. This is important in a forensicmedical record because an injury caused by blunt force may be investigated and prosecuted quite differently than the other type wounds just mentioned above. Other types of traumas cause them, with other types of instruments.